Music With a Purpose

Artists and musicians are clamoring to make an impact on the crisis in Darfur – diverse performers have come together to create albums to support humanitarian relief work in Sudan. Check out a few of the albums below, and maybe even order one…

Amnesty: Music for Human Rights
Donating to Amnesty International gives you exclusive access to Amnesty’s Music for Human RightsCD. Featured artists include Coldplay, Radiohead, Ryan Adams and Badly Drawn Boy. Note to students: if you donate $15 or more you are officially an Amnesty International member.

Instant Karma: The Amnesty International Campaign To Save DarfurInstant Karma seeks to mobilize millions by combining the power of John Lennon’s music recorded by some of today’s best-known artists. The full album includes U2, Green Day, Aerosmith, Black Eyed Peas, Snow Patrol, R.E.M., Postal Service, Christina Aguilera, Regina Spektor and more. Proceeds will benefit Amnesty International’s global campaign for Darfur.

We Are All Connected: Berklee College of Music Reaches Out to the Women of Darfur
Members of the Berklee College of Music community wrote, performed, and produced We Are All Connected, a collection of R&B, soul, jazz, pop, world, and gospel songs, to raise awareness of the plight of women and children affected by the ongoing humanitarian crisis in the Darfur region of Sudan. The recordings include music contributed and recorded by Darfurian women in refugee camps. Proceeds will benefit the Mercy Corps Darfur Fund.

Modiba: ASAP: the Afrobeat Sudan Aid ProjectASAP: the Afrobeat Sudan Aid Project features Afrobeat music contributed by top African artists to raise funds and awareness about the humanitarian crisis in Darfur. All proceeds go to Kebkayiah Smallholders Charitable Society, an Oxfam-sponsored humanitarian campaign in the Sudan.

Living DarfurLiving Darfur is the first single ever to have been recorded in a war zone by an international artist. The single by UK duo Mattafix was filmed in the refugee camps on the Chad/Darfur border where over 200,000 people have been killed over the last four years. All artist royalties from this single will be donated to Oxfam, Crisis Action, and the Save Darfur Coalition.

Waxploitation: Genocide in Sudan
Waxploitation Records has released the Genocide in Sudan CD to benefit the United Nations Relief Agency and UNICEF. Genocide in Sudan includes tracks generously donated by System of a Down, Gorillaz, Jill Scott, Jurassic 5, Kinky, and X-ecutioners. Buy this CD.